A way to stop the madness
by Jenny5000
Summary: When Sole hears about Nuka world she's so excited to go and show everyone the parks she loved, but her hopes are crushed when she hears who its been taken over by. She goes alone to check the place out but doesn't expect to rule the place, or end up finding someone new. All Gage was looking for is someone to rule over Nuka world and do it right, but with Sole he's lost for words.
1. The Naive General

She stands still looking out the window to the fast moving world outside, gun locked and loaded ready for the fight that was surely going to come when the car stopped at Nuka World. The buzzing of the intercom makes her jump slightly as the prerecorded announcer soft voice echoes through the empty car. "Hello and on behalf of the Nuka-Cola Corporation, we'd like to welcome each and every one of you aboard-" She rolls her eyes a bit, looking out the window her annoyance replaced by a small ping of joy, a small grin slowly creeping up her face as she sees the tall mountain and soda pop. She came here when she was a bit younger, with her parents and Nate, who was just her boyfriend at the time, it was a fun day, it's a shame that the memory was now soiled by raiders. When she heard the radio station she got so excited, telling everyone about the park, and that they should go, but her hopes were broken when told the rumors of raiders. Preston was starting to come up with a plan to whip them all out, booms, mini-nukes, deathclaws. Each idea more weird and complex then the last, she was the one who volunteered to scout the place out alone, of course there was a fountain of objection but her mind was set, plus she's been wanting to get out of the castle, and of the minute men uniform. She of course loved Preston and the minute men but her harness and armor where more her style. Here attention is pulled back to the sound system as static starts to come through and replaced by a different more rough voice. "Well, look who learned the truth and still showed up. I guess Harvey played his cards right after all." He sounded a bit like a cowboy from old western movies, the thought making her laugh a little, but as his tone goes more serious she remembers the upcoming danger. 'What have I gotten myself into?' "I only got a minute so you better listen and listen good. The name's Gage. Porter Gage. And our mutual friend Harvey only told you half the truth. You're still heading straight into a death trap." She lets out a hefty sigh. "Of course I am." She mumbles to herself. "But if you somehow make it through alive, I have an interesting offer for you. In the meantime, have fun and put on a good show. I'll be watching." The static takes over again, leaving her to stand there a shiver running down her back and fear through her veins, the car pulling to a stop at the Nuka World station, doors slipping open. She peeks her head out the door looking around the messy platform, regular raider stuff, yet still empty of any raiders. Taking a cautious step out, an uneasy feeling still spreading through her, but freezes on her next step as an obnoxious voice fills the room. "Attention all my favorite undesirables out there. In case you haven't noticed, looks like we got ourselves some fresh meat to run the Gauntlet!" Her face pales, as his harsh laugh sounds through, she was screwed, how could she face any fucked up thing that came from a raiders twisted mind. On shaky legs she walks to the door, laughing at the word 'GAUNTLET' written in white paint. "Well isn't that helpful." She jokes to herself, gripping the railing for support, more laughter comes through again, showing that they could hear her. "Aaaaaand she's off!" So they can see her too, creepy. "Let's hope are latest pray can draw a little... inspiration from our previous victims." She looks through the door at the bottom of the steps, seeing nothing but darkness, the night air dry and stiff making her shake a little. Clicking on her pitboy flashlight she looks around the room, seeing dead body's scattered throughout, lifeless eyes staring blankly, but there doesn't seem to be an initial threat - until her light flashes back at her. She crouches down pulling out her favorite 10mm setting her aim on the laser turret under a table, she sets of four shot setting it a blaze as it explodes. She laughs, that was it? A lousy laser turret that didn't even get to get a shot out, it couldn't be. As she gets a few steps in some lights flash on as the door slams behind her, she rubs her eyes trying to adjust, but looks up and around wildly when she hears the ticks and whirls of turrets as they focus in on her. She only gets a quick look before running and diving behind a broken and tattered stone wall, bullets and lasers splattering against it and whizzing by. There was two standing ones that were shooting off the bullets, one close and the other at the very back of the room, and was only able to caught a glimpse of one wall laser turret set up in the back with the other standing. As the noise of shooting died down she takes deep breaths, building her courage before she steps out setting off shots until the closest standing turret explodes, the taking covers again as they lock on again, and repeating the steps on the farthest standing turret. "Come on bitch, hurry it up." She grumbles a bit before speaking loudly to be heard over the gun fire. "I'd rather not die, thanks. So I'm going to take my sweet ass time!" More harsh laughter comes through. "But where's the fun in that?" He mocks as she peeks her head out taking out the two laser turrets on the closest wall. "One left." She whispers to herself, reloading her weapon as she runs to take cover behind a shelf. She starts to take aim at the laser turret in the back when a red hot burning enters her shoulder, making her stumble out to the open. There was a laser turret in the other side of the wall she was hiding on, fuck, now she's in the open under the prying focus of both of them. Quickly taking aim at the closest one she destroys it before dropping to her knees and turning as red lasers flew over her head and destroying the final one. She stands back up reaching for her shoulder, flinching as her fingers brushed burnt and peeling flesh. "Fuck!" She shouts pulling out a rag and purified water, wetting it and gentle dabbing at the burn. "Oh-ho! Sounds like this little girl has quite a mouth on her!" More laughter, she grumbles some more putting her water back and proceeding to lift both of her middle fingers, turning in a tight circle so they could caught it no matter where the staking camra was, there was more laughing to that. "Damn, this little one has balls!" Sighing she stomps to the next door, a not so helpful arrow telling her to go right. "Ooo. Our new vic sure knows how to dodge some bullets." She gives out a slight pained laugh at his dark joke. "Good thing that's not all we got in store for her." She takes in the surrounding room, it again looks rather empty, then her eyes set on a fire trap. "A trap room?" She giggles a bit, raiders sure did love their traps. Her eyes drift over the floor, about a dozen makeshift trip wires lay about, pulled tight. Sighing she pulls a bobby pin from the hen of her pants, where she liked to keeps them for easy access. In a minute she has them all done, throwing the now unusable bobby pin aside, as she searches the dead body's of the unfortunate players when a red door catches her eye, instantly taking out another bobby pin, the door swings open with ease only to show the same place she was. She shoves the pin back into place ignoring the man's taunts filling the room, braving up and unstable stairs and across an even worse makeshift bridge, making unsettling creeks beneath her weight. "The vics still alive but don't let that get you down. The Gauntlets still got plenty in store for this one." Comes his voice again with more laughter as she slips and eats shit, face first to the ground, blood seeping from her nose mixing in with the gasoline covering the floor. "Son of a bitch!" Her hand flys to the bleeding nostril as she pushing herself to stand up, guessing what the next obstacle is, but is dumbfounded when she sees three red doors around the corner instead. "It's decision time! All doors lead to death. Some just a little slower than others." Looking at all three she stands there frustrated, this was stupid. Her hand reaches for the door knob on the middle one, opening it to the glowing eyes of a toy monkey with cymbals, and promptly shoots it's head off, slamming the door shut, those monkeys crept her the hell out. Two choices left, she reaches for the right one, she hears a wire being snapped and hard objects hitting the floor. "Oh come on!" She shouts slamming the door, and running to take cover behind the wall. The grenades go off, bursting the door back open, only for it to slowly close itself again. She stands again, brushing herself off, blushing a little, she had such horrid luck, at least she knew which one it was now. Opening the final door she rushes through it and down the stairs, then stands at the entrance of the new room, this was taking for ages. Yellow barrles scattered the room, the sickness already burning in her stomach, and with shaky hands she finds rad-x pills popping two in her mouth, gagging a little as they slid down her throat. "Hope someone brought there radaway, cause our little Vic is about to get roasted like a squirrel on a stick." Her eyes caught the red door on the other side of the room and she makes a mad dash for it tripping over her feet and stumbling, grabbing a new bobby pin and pushing it to the lock, the shaking of her body and hands making it more difficult, even with the rad-x in her, she was still taking on to many rads. At last she hears that satisfying click, pushing through it and shutting it securely behind her, then fishing a radaway from her bag and cleansing herself with in. "Someone thinks she's a real tough guy, eh? But the Gauntlet ain't through with 'em yet." She snaps her cheeks a little to perk herself up, and flinches as she sticks a stimpack into her arm before moving on, half walking, half sliding down the broken floor to a new door, the steel cold against her hands as she uses her weight to pull it open, greeted by what seems to be an old storage room, and a terminal sitting on a steel bench. Sighing as she switches it on, of course it was locked. She types in a few passwords until she gets the acceptance beep on the word lead. "They have such stupid passwords." She whispers to herself, shaking her head. She look through the setting of the turrets that were set up to it seeing that they were already deactivated, weird.. Making her way down the stairs she finds the turrets, and glares at a monkey at the far end of the room in the center, a light shining upon it. She raises her gun easily, shaking her head again, cleanly taking it's head off. "Aww, looks like someone is against us having fun." She lets out a small chuckle, either he was growing on her, or she was slowly losing her mind. "Well maybe if you didn't put it out in the open, with a spot light!" She says gesturing to it with her hands stretched out. "Put it around the corner or something where I can't see it, so it startles and confuses me for a second when the turrets put the target on me... why am I helping you." She rubs her eyes as he chuckles in return. "Looks like she starting to get attched old Red eye here." He laughs out. "Shut up." She snaps, finding a key and fitting it to the next door, pushing her way through, opening to a bit of a wider space before splitting off in two different directions. She grabs a bottle of wonderglue, and shoves it in her bag before opting to go right. She wasn't a fan of tight spaces, always felt like they were closing in on her, and left her vulnerable and easy to attack, which she anticipated for this section. She almost didn't hear the snap of a wire through the pounding her heart, a heavy door falling open. Her gun flew up, waiting for ghouls, or feral dogs, hell maybe a little deathclaw. Yet as she stood waiting, patting feet growing loader and closer, but she sow nothing, then she felt fresh blood splatter her knee as something bit at it. Scrabbling back she let's out a hoarse squeal, a little from pain and a little from shock, looking down as huge rats came barreling towards her. Eyes widening she takes a few blind shot, and looking back to find them dead, relising the breath she didn't notice she was holding. "Giant cockroaches, now giant rats, what's next terminates?" She whispers to herself, pushing the rat body's aside with her foot, walking the of the narrow path, eyes peeled for more trip wires then climbing the rickety steps and back down the other side. "Time for things to get dangerous! Survive what's next." Red eye announces proudly as she gun down yet another turret, now standing in a door way to a subway station, her eyes flicker around the area when she finds the danger, a mine, probably dozens in here. She cautiously make her way to it disarming it and shoving it in her bag, and carefully doing it to the next and the one after, once the seventh one is done she starts to walk away but stops as she hears the familiar crunch. She didn't see this one, it was out of pattern of the rest, they have all consistently been twenty pases apart, except for this one of course, rubbing her hands to her temples she readys herself to hull ass. As she removes her foot the haunting beeps chase after her, the explosion making her fly and tumble to the ground setting off a new one. "Fuck, fuck, fuck. Nooooo." She mumbles vaulting from her hands and knees to a break neck speed, stopping herself by crashing into a wired fence, bracing for the last explosion to go off, causing dust and debre to fire at her, pieces of wood that were lazyly placed as a bridge being fired out of place and into the water. "What? No! That's bullshit!" Looking up and around arms in the air, fore arms then resting on top of her head, there was a little pillar she could jump to but it looked unstable, like the rest of the dumb course. Looking down at the water and dirt below, big eggs sitting in tight circles around she made up her mind, backing up a bit for a bit of a running start. Jumping she lands at the edge, her heels hanging off, causing her to go on her tippy toes and shoot her arms out, before fully resting on it and making her way for the next door on rotting pieces of wood, making quick work of unlocking the door. "Wait, what, damnit that door was supposed to be blocked." He then leans away from the microphone yelling at the person who ways supposed to do that before leaving back in. "Anyways..." She can't help but laugh, maybe a bit to hard, from her finally getting luck from their stupidity. Opening the next door, three grenades falling to the ground, shutting the door gently she sighs at the irony of her last thought, as she thrown back on to her ass. She lays there for a few moments before calling out. "Am I almost done?" Red eyes cackling laughter breaks through the silence. "You wish, bitch." With another hefty sigh she stands going up the long ramp, and around the corner to see more grenades hanging from the ceiling, with a weight scale and trip wires set up amongst the pile. "Wasting my bobby pins on this shit." She whines fetching another one and making quick word of the traps and shoving her new grenades into her bag, strutting proudly to the next room, it looked like an old type of boiler room. She stumbles forwards as the door hits her in the ass, securely locking itself, lights powering down, and panic starts to set in as she starts to choke on nothing. "Someone thinks she's clever, time for a little reality check. Let's see if our Vic can kill the gas, before the gas kills her." She lets out a spattered cough and gasping for air, mind going fuzzy, making it difficult to think straight, but when she sees a valve she goes into over driving gripping it tight and turning to shut it off. "Heh. Gonna take a little more than killing that valve to stop the flow of this gas." She stops at the next valve, trying to take in what he said. 'So the valves aren't the answer.' Looking around the room with tear stained eyes looking for another way when her eyes find a bulky desk. A terminal. She wheezes, trying to suck in enough air to satisfy her screaming lungs, and ease her tossing stomach before walking on wobbly legs but is greeted by a locked door. "No. No. No." She wheezes out fumbling with the lock, but only manages to break five bobby pins with her now clumsy hands. 'This is not how I die!' She feels tears start to stream down we face, clogging her vision more before finally. Click. The door swings open, causing her to fall on her hands and knees, and struggling to stand again, the hisses of radroachs able to brake through the white noise in her ears. She screams in frustration using the last of her power to stomp on them, then fling herself at the terminal. It of course was locked, but she didn't have time to be patient, and typing in random passwords; locked out, fuck, deep breath in, and out. It beeps with an exception on her second attempt, quickly clicking through the options to the door controls, taking them a second to release and open, letting the gas dissipate, finally allowing her to breath again. She leans over dry heaving before some yellow bowel shoots up, splattering to the floor. "Aw, come on Vic, that's nasty." She sticks up her middle finger again, spitting a few times. "I hate you." She coughs out, whipping her mouth and eyes with the back of her hands, taking in steady breaths before clambering the stairs to yet another new door, pulling on it with all her might and entering a maintness garage, bounding up the last few steps. "That's right Vic, breath that fresh air in." He takes a mocking deep breath in. "While you can." Large destroyed tea cups rested peacefully on the ground, a thick layer of dust covering everything. A quick movement of red catches her attention, more laser turrets? She looks around to see nothing, but looks down as scorching pain shoots through her ankle, a large red ant camped onto her, as another jumps up the stairs, the sound of buzzing in the air as two black forms barrel towards her. She takes aim at the black mass, shaking off and stomping on the ones at her feet. As the last ant falls, she directs her attention to her bleeding left leg, the bite from the rat now dried but still throbbing. She limps her way to the next door moon light shining through the caged ceiling, making her feel calm in some weird way, staring up as she makes her way to the center of the tight room. "Goddamn, look who's in the homestretch! Time for a little audience participation!" Her moment of peace is smashed in an instant, as the sound of running foot steps on the metal cause her own to move, ignoring the pain in each step, new waves of bullets rain down past her head. No time to stop and shoot back or disable new traps just time to weave through rooms and narrowly miss a lead ending. As she's flying up a new flight of steps a bullet burns through her left leg, making her trip and shout, "Oh come on!" Rolling over to sit and look at the new wound, it stung like hell but wasn't to bad, as promptly shoving a stimpack to the leg. "Seriously! The same fucking leg? Out of everything you hit the same fucking leg!" Barking laughter comes from the women who shot her, running away. As she curses more making her way through the final door, entering a.. bumpers car arena? A man stands in weird looking set of power armor, and another with yellow spiked armor hooks him in. "Well I'll be damned! You know what that sound means." Comes Redeye again as she climbs the stairs as the men come back to view, keeping a wary eye on them slowly and clumsy making her way down the hall. "Get your ass down to Cola-cars, the main events about to begin." She stops at the locked door, still staring at the men when the one in the power armor pipes up. "You got me wired up yet, Gage?" He says in a think accent she can't quite other man - Gage, looks up catching her eye with his one, as the other is covered by a make-shift patch. "Yeah, boss." He says in a dry tone, the same voice from the car at the start. She grabs the yellow hand rails for support as their eyes bear into each others. "Finally. Now, go shut off that damn alarm." He orders, looking over his armor, Gage turns and sprints away. "All right, I'm on it." He responds, breaking eye contact. "Hhph. Now where..." The armored man looks up to see me staring down at him, cutting his sentence short. "Ah. There's my next victim now. Heh. Don't look like much." He scoffs, using his right hand to gesture at her body. She isn't to sure which part of her he's talking about; her height, weight, injuries, innocent looks, or maybe just everything. "Here's a quick run down of how this works. You go stock up, make yourself presentable, and then we're gonna give these folks a show." He let's out a vicious laugh. "A show where I decorate these walls with your lovely brains." My grip tightens on my gun, as I stare daggers into him. "I haven't died yet, what make you think you can do the job." He let's out another harsh laugh. "Because I don't die, love. Thanks to this suit, I'm the only one that wins this fight. Period." He promised, his voice becoming a mixture of lazy and cocky. "I'll hold you to that." He laughs again, glad she was so entertaining to them. "I wouldn't think less of ya, love. And if you think you're hot shit for getting this far? Think again." He turns his attention to Gage, who is somewhere in the control room, barking the order at him. "All right, Gage. Let 'em through." The door clicks open as he gives a menacing chuckle. "Something tells me I'm really gonna enjoy this." He turns his back to her, leaving her to messily climb down the stairs into a small locker room, random bullets and guns in the lockers and on benches and the floor, as Red eyes voices ring out again. "It's almost time! After a run like that, this ought to be the best slaughter yet!" "All right, listen the hell up if you want to make it out of this alive." Gages voice rings over Red eyes in an urgent and demanding tone. "I've only got a minute. Find the intercom on the wall. I'll make it quick." Her eyes land on it right away, hesitantly reaching for the button. "Who is this?" She asks, a little breathless, she knew it was Gage, but who is he. "I'm the guy that's going to get you out of this alive, so listen up." She lets out a defeated sigh, she needed his help, a raiders help, she pushes the button again. "All right, I'm listening." "Heh, my kinda gal." Was he really flirting with her right now? "Just get on with it." She sighs, blowing him off, making him clear his awkwardly. "Look: you made it this far, you obviously got skill. But this fight coming up is rigged. You get me? Overboss Colter..." The man who must have been in the suit, she thinks to herself, before Gage confirms it. "His Power Armor's set up to draw energy from the electric grid in the arena. Damn thing is invincible. You name it, someone's tried it - miniguns, grenades. Not a scratch. You get what I'm saying?" She knew all to well, dirty raider, dirty tricks, the usual. "I'd expect no less from a raider." He let's out a tiny, insulted laugh. "You must know us well. I stashed a weapon in the lockers. Get it." He barks at her, making her instantly go look around, but everything seemed pretty normal until her eyes land on a red space gun, 'Nuka-cola' pasted to the side of it, she squeezes the trigger and just like she thought a stream of water bursts out. She remembers all the cheesy commercials for them on the television pre-war, and secretly wanted one for herself, but it's not what she needed now, was he fucking with her. "Is this a... squirt gun?" She asks a little more than annoyed, he gives out a big sigh, explaining himself. "Yeah, yeah, I know what it looks like. You're just going to have to trust me." "I've always wanted one, loved those stupid commercials and..." She trails off, he shouldn't know about her or her life, didn't deserve to know the truth, all he needs to know is that she's trying. He chuckles again, but this time it seems more real. "Good for you. Anyways, once the water hits Colter's electrically-charged Power Armor, the circuits are gonna short out. It'll kill his defenses, but you'll only have so much time to do some damage before they recharge. You take him out, I promise you, it'll be worth every minute spent in this Gauntlet." She ponders the squirt gun thinking it through, listening to the generator, trying to come up with a short plan before giving a determined nod. "Consider it done." "That's what I like to hear. All right-" "Wait!" "What?" He asks sounding a little nervous. "I have a idea just give me a second longer." He mumbles something incoherent, then giving in. "Ok, but make it fast, I can't stall these psychopaths forever." She makes a quick dash for the wall where the generators sound are coming from, happy to find some one else had already broken through. Gently she removes the fusion core and stuffing it into her bag, causing the generator to blink off. "The power to the arena is down by 30%, was that you?" "Hey, I'm more that just a pretty face." She jokes, earning a genuine laugh. "All right, it's time. I'll open the door. See you on the other side." The door clicks open to another hallway to the final door, a clear view of Colter in his now powered armor, blue electricity blots curving around his body and a few sparks fly off here and there. "All right!" He shouts, arms shoot to the air, fist clutched tight as if he's already wow the fight. "Disciples! Are you ready for blood?" The crowd nearest to her starts to chant 'death' over and over again as he walks over to the middle of the crowd, the chant dying down a little as he starts to talk again. "And the Pack! Are you ready for things to get wild?" Wild cheering and insane bark and howls sound with banging on the metal fences, adding to the chanting. Colter moves again to the end of the crowd. "Operators! Are you ready to see me notch another kill?" There's a slow half-hearted applause, most of them looking bored and rolling their eyes. "And you..." He lifts his glowing finger to her making the cheers grow louder as all eyes set into her. "Are you ready to die?" "Bring it bitch!" I retort, causing the crowd to hoot and howler, causing a grunt of annoyance from Colter's throat. "Let's do this!" He declares, sounding almost excited as the door opens, leaving nothing but air between her and the large, killing-machine of a man, who was now barreling for her, gun up and at the ready. She dives out of the way behind some prop Nuka-Cola bottles. "This better work." She prays a bit, then takes aim setting off five shots with the squirt gun, each spray of water hitting it's target, then it actually happens, the suit short circuits, electrocuting Colter a little bit, causing them both to stop and stare at each other for a second. It worked it actually worked. "What's happening? What is this?" He spits out, rage cutting each word, pulling a grenade and tossing it to her hiding spot, making her run, shooting after her, all missing except one just grazing her shoulder enough to draw blood. She hugs to the next piece of cover she can find coming face to face with a man with an eye patch. Gage. Their eyes lock and moments seem to tick by as they study one another, seemingly locked in a trance. "What the hell? Was that a water gun?" Red eyes voice ring through making her fall out of the haze and laugh. "Red eye your back! Thought you left." "Can't get ride of me that easily!" He laughs, making her grin grabbing her hunting rifle from her back and loading it, the weight pulling her down a bit from her exhaustion. "A girl can dare to dream." She retorts, peaking around the corner to see that the blue bolts were already back, the crowd screaming and laughing. "Come on bitch!" Colter jeers running for her hiding spot, she steps out catching him off guard and shooting water again, he yelps in pain as it shocks him again. "Gage I swear, if your behind this!" Colter threatens, getting another grenade ready but she's faster pulling her own and rolling it under his feet. She hears him swear loudly then heavy clumping foot steps of retreat, she throws two more haphazardly, trying to give herself enough time to come up with a plan, she pushes the palm of her hands to her cheeks, pushing till it hurt. "Come on think, calm down and think." She whispers to herself knowing the blots would be snaking around him again in no time, giving him back his cockiness and control. "Weakness, weakness. Electricity and water, have that one down. Can't get his face, to heavily covered. Any other weak points are bolted not much chance for a bullet to pierce. Stupid fucking Power Armor." Her eyes widen as her thoughts click together. "Power Armor! Fusion core! Okay, need a discretion." She hears a familiar chuckle, muffled a little. She looks up to see Gage looking at her, amusement marrying his face, he had just watched her talk to herself, great. She fishes smoke bombs from her pack, blushing a little before peeking around the corner, short circuiting the armor, then setting the blue smoke off a few feet in front of him. "The fuck?" Colter howls, she gives Gage a cheeky smile before sneaking off behind Colter. Her distraction working perfectly as he scours the blue smoke for any signs of her. She takes her time to set the shot, when it's right on point she goes to take the shot but takes to long to pull the trigger, as some of the raiders scream at their Overboss. "Behind you! She's behind you." She pulls the trigger as he turns hitting him exactly where the core is on his back, the impact ripping a soft grunt from his throat, followed but a roar. "Ya sneaky bitch!" He yells running for her again, she try's to scramble to her feet to run but he's too fast getting there before she can take off, wrapping his huge metallic hand around her throat, lifting her from the ground. "Think your smart, do ya love?" He growls, proud of finally catching her. A harsh laugh rolls over her lips. "Well I'm not the dumb pansy-ass bitch who's getting their ass handed to them by a water gun." She spits, making his hand grow tighter and tighter around her neck as the crowd burst into unholy sounding laughter. He lifts her higher. "Well I'm not the one about to lose." He snarls. "That's where your wrong." She manages to sputter out, then resting her left foot on his shoulder and the right foot to the side of his head, giving a forceful push causing a sickening crack in his neck, making him yelp in pain dropping her hard to the ground and stumbling back. As soon as she hits the ground she flips into her back pushing herself through his legs and out the other side a full view of his exposed back. She sets off one, then two, then three shots, before finally the core erupts into a blinding red light, only Colter's screams of pain can be heard. As the light subsidies Colter stands there tethering before finally falling onto his back, the arena falling silent. She did it, she actually did it! She wanted to yell and celebrate, but instead her eyes are fixed at the dead man at her feet. She moves to her knees pulling off Colter's helmet, fingers going to a pulse point to find nothing. She lets out a dark laugh, running a hand through her hair, she actually fucking did it. "Holy shit!" Redeye shouts, causing the crowd to erupt yelling and cursing. "I don't... I don't even know what this means! Colter, man, he's out!" Boos and more cursing come from the crowd at his words. "Gage, what the hell just happened?" Gages raspy voice come through the speaker, as she stands dusting herself off and turning to look at him, only to see his eyes already baring into her, a look of pride in his. "You saw it. We all saw it!" She swears she sees the corner of his mouth perk up into a menacing grin as he easily says his next words. "Colter's dead. We've got ourselves a new Overboss."


	2. New Overboss

"We've got ourselves a new Overboss." Gage says, watching her pricing hazel eyes widen. "This girl? Are you sure Gage?" Comes Masons obnoxious voice, followed by Nasha smooth harsh tones only she could pull off. "You better know what the hell you're doing." "Hey, we talked about this!" He says smoothly hanging out some of their dirty laundry. "She survived the Gauntlet. She was smart enough to take my advice, and strong enough to kill Colter. She's what we need." His eyes sweep over the bosses of each of the raider groups before settling back to her. "So how about we show some respect for our new leader, eh?" The crowd mumbles giving some confused cheers. "She'll get respect when she earns respect." Hisses one of the female bosses, unable to pinpoint which one, but that doesn't stop from some members calling out an 'Amen' in agreement. "All right, all right. Now, get the hell out of here. I'll show the boss around." He snaps, waiting for the last of the crowd to disperse before speaking up again. "What'd I tell you? Worked like a charm." She makes a humming noise, rubbing some of the blood on her hands off to her pants. "So you really wanted the Overboss dead?" She more states than asks, walking closer to the window sizing him up. "'Dead', 'out of the way'... What's he difference? Either way, good riddance. The plan was a success." She hums again, a dark grin growing over her face. "Thanks to you. Not a bad plan." She praises, locking her arms behind her back in a sort of sweet and innocent pose for a girl who just killed a huge guy in Power Armor. "And what do you know, it worked. I get that you have no idea what's going on, and everything is coming at you real fast, but you need to listen." She nods, looking up at him with big sweet eyes almost making him feel bad for using her, almost. "Taking out Colter wasn't just a last minute decision... it was something a few of us here have been working on for a while. Now that he's actually gone, we've got ourselves a vacancy in the Overboss department. And guess what... you just got the job." She runs her fingers through her hair, as she turned away walking a few passes then walking back. "All I'm asking is that you trust me on this and give me a shot. I swear it'll be worth it." She plays with her bottom lip with her teeth, tilting her head, still studying as she answers. "First you lure me in here, and now you want me to run the place?" "Something like that." He says relising the flaws in his own planning. "Let me explain. There are three raider gangs that run the show at Nuka World - the Disciples, the Operators, and the Pack. And yeah, if the names didn't give it away, these ain't your typical raiders." "Of course, just my luck." She mumbles, he ignores her. "These morons don't exactly play nice with each other. Thanks to Colter, this place is a power keg just waiting to blow sky high. One wrong move, and we're going to have a bloodbath on our hands. I think you have what it takes to turn things around and keep these gangs from tearing each other apart." She places her thumb and index finger on the bridge of her nose, shutting her eyes leaning a shoulder against the glass for some support. "Okay, but why me? I'm sure you're better suited for the job." "We'll get into that later." He brushes her off, making her look up with annoyance. "Now I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but this ain't the place. Meet me at the Overboss' - your new quarters, the restaurant on top of good old Fizztop Mountian. We can talk there. Just let me get that door for you..." He says heading for the terminal. "Meh, if you must. I think it's rather cozy." She says, lacing her words with sarcasm, leaning her head to the glass and shut her eyes. He scoffs in response, clicking at the keys, popping the door open. "...there." He states and she makes her way for it but stopping short, looking back at Colter's body. "What regretting it now?" He jokes, she shakes her head. "No. I'm debating on whether or not to take his Power Armor, it looks kinda dumb, but at the same time kinda cool." He laughs, surprising himself on how much she already made him do that. "Don't worry boss, I'll have someone take it up for ya." Her face lights up as she steps through the door way. "Also, I don't know about, 'boss'. How about, hmmmm, oh: Master." She lifts her arms in front of her face palms out, then brushing then aside as she says the word 'Master'. "Right, whatever you say boss. Let's keep the conversating between us, okay? Meet me in the Overboss quarters." He says, backing away then turning around to leave. Jesus she's small, she looked like she would break at any second and float away with a gust of wind. But she defiantly had a personality on her, and her body was different from the rest of the filth of the commonwealth, yet still alluring. And he deffentally didn't miss the bulky pitboy on her wrist. A fucking fault dweller, God this was a horrible idea, but what other choice did he have, anything would be better than Colter and if she can't live up to the task she either dies or he rules through her. He leans on the bar in Fizztop Mountain, waiting for his new Overboss when the decent of the elevator signals her arrival. The elevator raises again with the short girl standing in the middle, looking very pale, and dirty, a wild curiosity in her eyes. "Welcome home, boss." He calls out, pushing himself up to a stand. She gets a slight wrinkle in her nose as she looks around the room. "The digs are yours now - hope you like the look." He jokes dryly, a grin growing over her face. "Colter had some peculiar tastes. But this view is something, huh?" She nods turning to look behind her out the opening in the wall, the sun now low in the sky as it finally rises, the sun bouncing off her dirty blonde pony tail. He releases the breath he didn't realize he was holding before speaking. "Everything you see here is under your control, now that you're in charge." "I still don't get it. Why put me in charge?" "You may have noticed that our former Overboss, Colter, was a fuckin' asshole. And that's me being nice. Ended up being poison for this whole operation. Way I see it, surviving the Gauntlet means you got what it takes. Or at least the potential." "Mm." She hums now walking around the room, poking at a mannequin. "For a good while now, we've needed someone who can get shit done. Make real progress." "I sure do like the sound of that." She coos, a wide smile on her face, as the mannequin falls over, the head falling off. "I thought you might. Look. I'll be honest with you: this operation needs someone to step in and take the reins. Sure as hell ain't gonna be me; leading outright ain't my style, and there's already some blamin' me for supporting Colter all this time. My talents are best put to use helping a new Overboss get all this shit under control. You get me?" "So I'm your pawn?" She says giving him a quizzical eye, making him trip over his words, stopping when she laughs. "I'm fucking with you. So what sort of talents would you have, Gage?" She asks a smile still planted on her face. "Aside from being a good shot and having a foul mouth? I've run with gangs nearly my whole life. I know how Raiders think, what they're after, and how to use that to your advantage. Trust me, I'm in this just as much as you are. This shit needs to work out." "I hear you, Gage." "Good. I know I'm throwing a lot at you all at once here. Let's take a step back, and talk big picture, okay? Nuka World... Shit, this was the dream. Huge, built like a goddamn fortress. You run this, the world is yours. We had a good head-start on it. Hell of a lot of work went into getting the Disciples, the Operators, and the Pack to work together. But we got here." She hops up on the counter, crossing her legs, seeming to hang on to every word he said as if it was the most interesting story she's ever heard. "'Bout a year ago, we push in through the front gate, take over Nuka-Town, get these traders under our thumb... and then.. Well, Colter got lazy. He was content to sit on his ass, never bothered putting in the effort to finish taking over the park. The gangs got restless, and started pissing each other off. It was - is - a real mess." She pinches her bottom lip with her finger, looking off into the distance, seemingly lost in thought. "What kind of a mess am I walking into here?" She asks turning her attention back in on him. "It was little shit at first: heated tempers, arguments, the occasional shooting. Got worse over time though. Gangs started staking out as much territory as they could, all being on top of each other like this. Started looking for excuses to turn on each other. If somethin' ain't done soon to settle things down, it's gonna reach a point there ain't no coming back from." She nods, looking past him again, leaning back on her hands. "I can fix this." She says, then whispers. "I can make this work." "Yeah?" He asks quizzically. "Man, I sure hope so. Look I know these gangs. Been workin' with them or against them for years now. I'll help you, okay? Walk you through everything. First thing you gotta do is get the gangs behind you. Without them supporting you, you're not getting shit done. You don't have to trust 'em. Hell, you don't even have to like 'em. But you need them to respect you enough to follow you." "Don't worry, everybody likes me." He stifles the smile that threatens on his face. "Yeah... I wouldn't count on that." "Okay, fine, maybe I grow on people." He clears his throat to shuffle another smile, damnit what was it about her that made him do this. "Have any advice for how I should go about this?" "Yeah, all right.. The Disciples like violence. The bloodier, the better. Tell 'em they'll get plenty of it. The Operators are in it mostly for the money. They get promised caps, they'll listen to you. The Pack... Hell, I don't know. They follow whoever they think is the strongest. Show some teeth, I guess." She nods again, seeming to be taking mental notes. "Look, technically you're the new Overboss, right? That's like, half the work done right there. Just.. meet the leaders. Talk with 'em, flex your muscles a little. Show 'em you mean business." "My speciality." She beams jumping up, then wincing. "Okay! Let's do this." "All right! That's what I'm talking about. You just need to show 'em you're the right girl for the job. I'll be here if you need me. You are the Overboss, after all. Just... don't screw this up... what are you doing." She looks up at him, as her fingers work at the metal arm bands on her. "I'm exhausted, dirty, and in pain. If I'm trying to gain their trust I can't show weakness, they gobble that shit up." She successfully removes both arm bands, moving on to her chest plate, removing it to reveal her small mounds of breasts trapped under her harness. He could help but admire her small form. "I also have to deal with this laser burn, make sure it's nothing bad... Gage, buddy, up here." She says waving, then pointing to her eyes. "Now where did this asshole crash?" He thrusts his thumb towards the door on the other side of the counter. "In there, let me show ya 'round." She collects her gear, following on his heels into the next room. "Huh." She spouts, taking in the new area, walking to the bed plopping her gear and herself to it. She rummages through her bag pulling out come cloths, water, and a stimpack. She puts a clean looking cloth to the tip of one of the bottles of water tipping it to wet it, then reaching back to dab her shoulder blade. "Want some help boss?" He offers. "You don't have to call me boss you know, Sole will do fine." "Sole?" He questions, taking the damp cloth she held out to him. "Story for a different time my friend." She sighs, flinching at his touch. "How does it look? Will it need to be wrapped?" She asks, he grabs her arm to steady her, pressing the cloth lightly. Her skin was soft, smooth, and oh-so warm to the touch. "Nah. Should be fine." He says looking at the red skin. "Looks like most of the armor got the blunt end of it." She sighs again, looking at the burnt marks on her chest plate. "Now I'm going to have to spend time on repairing it. Which sucks, it was such a good find too." "Where'd you get it?" He asks with genuine curiosity. "A gunner by the name of Barns. God he was a prick and a half. Sat on a thrown of bullshit, handing out empty threats." She laughs at her own memory. "Even surrounded by his crew he went down like a bitch." Gage laughs at her comment of the man. "Crew, Huh?" "Yup. Three on the ground, and about sixteen up in the freeway with an assaultron." "How big was yours?" "My Crew? I didn't have one, just me and a guy out for revenge on the asshats." He freezes, his grip tightening a bit on her arm. Only her and some guy, he couldn't think of anyone in this damn place that would do that, at least no one who would make it out alive. "Jesus, maybe I've pegged you wrong." He admits, resting the cloth to the bed, then inserting a stimpack to quicken the healing process. She giggle. "Really? I didn't even have to tell you about the deathclaw in the museum to sway you too my side." He chuckles, releasing her arm and looking over his sloppy handy work. He stands walking to take a seat any where then next to her. She banishes a knife cutting away her pants from the knee, she makes a huffing noise, grabbing the cloth again and whipping away the dried blood, but any indications of wounds were long gone, with no scars. "I'm going to catch some shut eye." She states, kicking off her boots and swinging her legs up onto the bed. Laying on her back, legs curled in, hand resting against her holstered 10 mm. It takes her a minute to finally close her eyes, and two before her breathing steadys out to a peaceful, sleeping rythem. He again looks over her form, watching her chest rise and fall with each breath. There was no doubt he found her attractive, he was usually never one to hide his attraction and take what he wanted then leave. But she was new, and in no way a raider, if he pulled that crap with her she might get scared or pissed off and leave and right now, she was the only thing keeping him from getting killed and keeping this freak show of a park together. So he'll hide the lust, keep it in his pants, but either way, admiring her body, and imagining stuff wouldn't hurt no one. He sighs, rubbing a hand over his face, deciding it was creepy watching her sleep, he gets up going to see 'bouts getting the Power Armor off of Colter's dead body. It isn't easy doing so, yanking him out and disposing of his body in the locker room, then half carrying, half dragging the suit to the Mountain and placing in amongst the Power Armor stand, sighing in relief. He opens the door a crack to see she wasn't in the bed anymore. His brows furrow as he finds her instead clicking away at a terminal, focusing intently on it contents; which was just bunch of passive-aggressive messages to Colter from him. He opens the door the rest of the way, squeaking as it goes. Her head pops up as he walks in, her hand flying to power down the terminal. "Good your back. So where are the gangs situated?" She asks standing, she was now in a t-shirt with new jeans, her armor dawned back on her body with sloppy repairs done. She pulls a crudely draw map from her back pocket. "Where'd you get that from?" He asks snatching it from her hands, but she promptly snatches it back. "I made it. It's a rough out line from what I've seen so far." She says, looking embarrassed, pushing past him and spreading it out on the bar. For only seeing the park once she had gotten a good map done, already a hell of a lot more then Colter did. "Here." He says poking the right side from the mountain close to them. "Is where the Disciples hole up. And over here." Tapping up and to the side. "Is the Pack. Leaving the Operators to dwell." He says poking the final point. She pulls a pencil from her pocket making three little dots where he pointed and putting the names of the gangs over each. "Perfect!" She coos, shoving the map back to her pocket and heading to the elevator. "I'm off then! Don't wait up for me." She gives a small wave before pushing the button, sinking out of veiw. She was very weird to him, from her speech to her actions. She acted cautious but not the 'everything is out to kill me' kind like the rest but more 'what will my actions do' and she spoke so proper, clear and understanding, she was weird and different, poking out like a sore thumb even with the commonwealth lot, hell they feared their own shadow. He dwelled on this for a long time until the sun was dipping again into a sunset with her return. "The Overboss returns..." She waves vigorously as the elevator halts to a stop. She seemed chipper. "Well, you're back in one piece. That a good sign. Everything all peachy with our friendly neighborhood psychopaths?" "Oh wonderful, I feel like we're already bonding." "Sure hope you didn't promise them too much... I mean, going a little over the top is part of the game, but you don't want them holding it against you if you can't deliver." "I've always been a mighty stage performer. Don't give me that look, I didn't go over the top or anything. They're on board." He rubs a hand over his scowling face, defiantly weird. "Good 'cause next is the fun stuff. Time to roll up your sleeves, boss. There's work to be done. This place is huge. Divided up into sections. Parks, whatever the hell they called 'em back in the day." "Either version works." "What?" "Nothing, continue." He shakes his head. "We need to take 'em all back, one at a time. Every section we secure gives us a little more breathing room, and more resources. You stake a claim, plant a little flag for one of the gangs, and that settles it. It's theirs for good. Who gets what - that'll be your call. Whoever you hand it off to will appreciate it, but the others might get a little jealous. You know how it goes." "Their just basically children in raider clothing." She grins, and rolls her eyes at his quizzically look. "I'll grow on you I promise. My dry and punny humor will get to you." "Mhm. All right, boss." "Good to be in charge." "So that's it. Nice and simple, right? Take a minute; settle in if you want, and then let's get to it." "Sounds good." She nods, finally moving from her stationary spot just off the elevator, then he makes a split second decision. "And hey - we're in this together, so I might as well go all-in. You want me watching your back, you just say the word." She basically looks through him, seemingly at war inside her head, it was obvious she didn't trust him much, which he didn't blame her for, he barely trusted her. The war within her head seems to stop as she beams up at him. "That sounds like a great idea, Gage. You've got a deal." She stick her hand out, he takes it with caution, giving it a solid shake and letting go. "You're the Overboss..." He says like he doesn't have a choice, since he really didn't. Her brow furrow a little taking in his reaction. "Gage, you don't have to join me. I understand if you don't want to." For once her sarcastic tone is replaced with a genuine one, taking him off guard. "Nah, boss, I wanna come." "Sole." She says in correction. "Ok, boss." She sigh, moving to the counter, pulling out a cartoon map of the park and her make-shift one, more dots covering it's surface. She rummags through her bag, pulling out a new piece of paper. "What are ya doin' now?" He ask, sitting beside her. Watching her pencil dance over the paper leaving black marks. "Making a final copy of the map for this section." She says finishing the outline, as it takes the general shape of the section, then adding small plot-point detail to it, scribbling what each place was in small fonts over the illustrations. She looks over the park provided map. "So I was thinking the Pack could having Kiddy Kingdom, I'm sure they'd love that place. the Disciples can have Safari adventure leaving them away from everyone; pretty sure they'd bitch less there, but it may make the Pack a little bitter since that's where many of the pre-war animal were. And the Operators can have The Galaxic Zone and-or Dry Rock Gulch. But with that we would only have here and the bottling plant, and I'm not sure if the Pack would be pleased with either placement... thoughts?" He stares down at her a little lost for words. She wanted his opinion, his thoughts, he's been ignored for a long while now, ideas thrown in the garbage. "I.. uh..." He swallows hard, letting his thoughts form together. "I agree with the Operator's placement, and the Pack would bitch non-stop if they ain't gettin' the Safari." She gives a nod in agreement. "So we could have the Disciples, here and at the bottling plant but I figure you don't want them close." She nods again. "I don't trust them so close to were I sleep." He chuckles, but finding himself agreeing with her. "So we could have 'em at the plant, an' give 'em Galaxic Zone, and have the Operators here. The ones least likely to kill us." She grins, scratching down placements on the map. "That means we should secure theirs first so they won't be as bitter. Then try to get Galaxic Zone for the crazies." "Sounds like a plan." He beams, feeling heard for once, glad to finally put words into action. She clicks at her pitboy, humming a song to herself. "Well get some rest my friend, well leave right at 8, tomorrow morning." She glances up at him. "If you aren't up in time I will smoother you with Teddy bears." He raises an eyebrow at the strange threat as she stands and walks to her new room. "Sleep well. Oh and thanks for getting the Power Armor." She gives a big smile, giving a quick salute with two fingers, before shutting the door behind her. Shaking his head he retreats to the bed in the corner of the room, taking his armor and undershirt off before laying down, throwing his arm over his forehead, drifting off.


	3. Let's back track

She stands over him, teddy bear in hand; fully intended to join Dogmeats on-going pile, looking at her pitboy. He had three more minutes, but from his soft snoring there was little chance he was waking. The clock ticks to eight, and he still lays there peaceful. She sighs, placing the teddy bear over his nose and mouth, not pushing enough to actually suffocate, but enough to stir him. He grabs her wrist pulling it up, eyes glaring up at her. "Its past eight." She says blandly. "Get up." She grabs his under shirt, dropping it to his chest. "I'll wait down stairs." She lets her eyes wonder over him quickly before turning to leave, he was oddly handsome and it bother her. She exits the elevator into the bottom floor, Harvey coming into veiw. "Good, your here, we need to make this fast." She pulls out the rough sketched map handing it to him. "Remember to Diamond city, to Valentine's detective agency. It can be given to Nick or Ellie, but only them." He nods taking the map and note, shoving them to his pocket. "And your going to get all of us out of here, right?" She nods, patting his shoulder. "I will, I promise, but it's gonna take time, you just have to trust me. Now go, you have a week." He nods running out the door, just as the elevator dings open, Gage walks out. "Lets head out boss." He chimes rubbing under his eye with a thumb. "So you never told me what happened with the clans." He says, hinting for an explanation. "Okay, let's see-"

I went to see the Disiples first the women at front door threateningly with her gun hanging lazy in her arms. "Watch yourself, 'Boss', because we sure will be." I give her a small glare, ripping open the door. "Come on, girl, you know we should run this place. Not some lil greenie Gage dragged in." I pause in the door way, listening to the women bitch, when a smooth, stony voice echoes in. "We're giving him a second chance. Gage screws this up, he knows we'll skin him alive. So shut up and be patient." The women turns her attention to a man leaning on some cages. " What about you big guy? Nothing to say on the matter?" "As long as she doesn't get in my way... don't much care." He grunts, pushing up. "Yeah, figured as much." The women with the stony voice looks over at me, a weird helmet covering her nose and eyes. "Both of you just get out of here. And make sure the others get the message." "Making plans?" I say blankly, watching the other two march away, she blows off my question. "So, you're Gage's little pet project." I cross my arms, raising a brow. "Pet project? What's that supposed to mean?" "Gage didn't say anything?" She mocks, trying to snatch at any weak point. "Apparently, we're not good enough to run this place ourselves. Gage wanted to bring in his own little puppy to replace Colter. But I guess training a puppy is way easier than getting us to do what he wants." I study her for a moment, not sure how true her words are. "Last I checked, I'm not a lost puppy, I'm the Overboss." She scoffs, her still body making me uncomfortable, she didn't move an inch, mouth only moving to let her words slip out cruelly. "You survived the Gauntlet, you killed Colter, with Gage's help, of course. So sure, you're the 'Overboss', but that title hasn't meant anything for a long time now. If Gage thinks that'll change overnight, he's dead wrong." She lifts her hand, striking it at neck level at the word dead. "Every one knows we all wanted Colter dead. 'Course if I had my way, it would have been a slow, painful process." A sarcastic response plays on my lips, but I know that won't go well with the prissy, up tight leader of the Disciples. "But whatever. Let's get this meet and greet over with. I'm Nisha. I lead the Disciples. We've only got one rule around here, and that's keeping the peace of this... alliance. Otherwise, the way we see it, this world stopped caring about rules the moment people started dropping bombs on one another." "This world needs rules. Otherwise, we'll never recover." Nisha scoffs again. "Rules are dangerous because people start to trust them. They make you think you're safe, but once you turn your back... you're dead." "Need some order in chaos." She seems to take time to process the words. "Colter thought some sort of rule or code made him untouchable... but he found out he was wrong... The hard way. Although, I could give him a little credit. He built the Gauntlet after all. Of course, it was total shit at first. No imagination, but we spiced it up a bit." "I thought it was pretty impressive." I say, trying to play her good side. "Good to see the new boss at least has some taste. I might let you keep that head on your shoulders after all. Let's just hope Gage is right about you. He made a lot of promise to get us here, and never followed through. So you better not screw this up because I'm not about to tolerate another round of bullshit." I lean out on my hip, trying to seem uninterested in her threats. "Are you questioning me? The Overboss?" "Not questioning, just curious. We were wrong about Colter. We won't make the same mistake twice." "Mhm. Depends on what you're looking for, I suppose." "Someone who's not afraid to get blood on their hands and make some real changes around here. You see, the Disciples don't make empty threats, we make good on them. We aren't swayed by caps like those spoiled brats obsessed with their hair, or those savage animals who can't behave in public." She waves her hand dismissively. "Fuck this up, and I will kill you. Although, I admit I have even better plans for Gage. But... if you support us and keep your promises like a good, little Overboss, we back you, you get to live, and everybody wins." I drop my head to the side, narrowing my eyes. "And why would I trust you?" "Because we need each other. You give us what we want, and it's just a matter of time before everyone in the Commonwealth knows your name." I grin, no one here knew that everyone did.-not that she would put that in the story for Gage- nodding, I speak. "What is it you want?" "When you finish what Colter started, you give us control of this park. Then you set your sights on the Commenwealth. And once the Commonwealth is yours, and believe me, with our help it will be... You just make sure the Disciples have more than our fair share of the territories." "I don't make promises." I say, eyeing her up, she takes a shifting step on the spot, it was hard to read what the action meant. "And you'll do what I say." There's a long moment of silence, not even her voice gave anything away. "Looks like you're already a step above Colter. I'll see how this plays out... for now. But, if you change your tune and decide to play nice... There's no shortage of work around here, so if your looking to prove you've got what it takes... You know where to find me." She gives a firm nod happy with her own words. "Alrigh. I won't make empty promises or treats, or play any bullshit cards. I'll be by in a few days to see what needs to be done." Nisha turns on her heel, done with the conversation. It was like talking to a bratty child; a blood thirsty, and maniacal one, but bratty none the less.-

Gage shakes his head looking at her a bit impressed. "You threatened her?" She shrugs, grinning at him. "It seemed like the only way to get through to her." He nods knowingly. "Yea, that's true. Continue on." After that she met up with Harvey, but there was no way she was telling him that part. "After that was the Operators-"

"You can head on in, Overboss." Says the boy at the door, opening it for me to walk through, keeping a close eye on my body. As I walk in I hear bit and pieces of a conversation, catching talk about my pipboy, debating how I got it. "Hmm. You can go." Says the girl, waving the other away as I walk into the next room. "Hey." I say, cautiously walking up to her. "Well. I suppose we all owe you for putting down Colter." Her voice was a little droning, but weirdly relaxing. "Man was an idiot. Made us all look bad." The man behind her straightens, eyeing me, which I was starting to get tired of. "Heh. A clown stuck in his own little car." Her hard demeanor breaking for a moment as she smiles, then goes back to her stoner one. "I guess we can take some solace in the fact that someone finally gave him what he deserved. I want to know. What did you feel as you did it? When you brought that walking pile of human garbage to his knees?" I grin. "Taking down an opponent like that, it's thrilling." When I heard my own voice it surprised me how sincere I sounded, maybe it was the truth. "Sure looked it." The man pipes, grinning wildedly at me. "Hmm. Perhaps you're better suited to this than I expected. Regardless, Gage's decree means that you're the new Overboss. I suppose we can only hope you work out better than the last one." She gives a small nod of the head. "I'm mags." She turns pointing to the man. "This is my brother, William." "Pleasure." He gives a half hearted wave. "Sole." I say, meeting their moment of politeness. "Along with our co-conspirator Lizzie, we run this crew. Call ourselves the Operators. You'll come to understand soon enough that we are the only gang you should be backing around here. Because we're the only ones who see this place for what it is. A temple. A testament to the only thing that matters in this world." "And what's that?" I ask a little rhetorical. "Caps. This place was built for the sole purpose of taking caps out of the pockets of fools. We only joined Gage and Colter's little menagerie in order to restore it to that goal... though by somewhat more cutthroat methods than I expect it's founders intended." William walks in just behind Mags and puts in his thoughts. "Instead Colter had us sitting on our asses for the better part of a year while he lived large in his damn mountaintop." "And that means if you're going to be in charge around here, we'd like some assurances that you intend to bring this place back to it's true purpose. And that we're going to get back to robbing folks of their fucking money." I figured the easiest way with them was to let them hear what they wanted. "My goal's to use this place to make all the money I can." I say, trying to sound sincere. William grows a creepy grin. "Well, it's about damn time." Mag eyes her brother suspiciously before continuing. " Hmm. I look forward to seeing your claims put into action. So, you're welcome in the Parlor whenever you like. Make yourself at home. And if you think you might be interested in running some jobs for us, you just come speak to me. And we'll all be anxiously awaiting getting this place back to doing what it does best." "Won't disappoint." I nod, turning and exiting, her soft hum of uncertainty following me. -

"Mags... kinda hard to pinpoint. I'm sure she's happy." Gage says, as she stops to click through her pipboy getting closer to Galactic Zone. "An' the Pack?" He prods. "Yeah... they are something-"

I look up at the makeshift door, bad patch jobs, and held up with other flimsy planks. "Welcome to the nest, 'boss'. We were wondering when you'd make it down here." The girl person chimes. I study the weird paint, putting my full weight into opening the gate. My first thoughts go to the wild animals running around, making me a little to excited. Walking through the chaotic strip then when I see a cheesy thrown in front of a dog fighting cage it was obvious. I'm just able to hear the conversation he's having with one of the scavvers, over the cheering, fighting, and howling, from both animals and Pack members. "Can you talk to Mags or something? You said we ain't allowed to kill any of 'em. So..." The big man in the chair leans forward. "Tell me. Did you have to wait in a long to see me?" "No. I walked right up here." The scavver says sounding confused. "Exactly. Most can handle their own shit without bothering me about it. Do you need help finding your place here?" "No. No! I can handle it." He stutters out, slowly backing up. "There's plenty of collars in the kennels if you can't." He nods, speed walking away. The man in the chair sinks back into the chair, spreading his legs out. I stop at the foot of the steps, a lazy smile spreads on his face, looking her over. "Hey." "Now that I get a closer look at you... not sure I'm buying this new Overboss thing." He leans back up, silking his eyes up and down again. His voice gravely. "You gonna be a problem I need to solve?" I ask. He chokes out a laugh standing. "Slow down there, boss-lady. We're just getting to know each other. Name's mason. The Pack's Alpha." "Sole." "Sole, huh?" He shifts. Leaning on the chair. "This here's our side of town. You might be Overboss - for now. But I'm the boss of the Pack. And it's going to stay that way. Long as you don't go forgetting that, we're gonna be fine." I give a genuine smile, he's going to be fun. "Lets work together, Mason. I'm not interested in running your gig." He returns the smile, surprisingly not creppy but warm. "If that ain't a lie, then things might end up alright between us. Look. It ain't like anyone's broke up about Colter. Just figured on his replacement being... Well, different. But Gage says you're the boss now. So, you're the boss." He shrugs a bit, seeming to really trust in Gage. "You don't want to be Overboss?" I question, he seems to be the first. "If I thought the other gangs would go along, yeah, I'd run this place in a heart beat. Might have to - if you turn out to be a turd." Scratch what I just said. "At least it ain't Mags Black or that freak Nisha. Besides you can't possibly be worse than Colter." "What's Nisha deal any ways?" He gives hearty laugh with a shrug. "Hell if I know." "Well, don't worry. I have big plans for this place, you'll see." "Maybe you're the real deal. But we thought Colter was the real deal, too. And he's laying in a pool of his own blood. Don't get me wrong. Colter was definitely Overboss. Not a man to mess with. And things were good in the beginning. Real good." He pauses thinking back on it. "But that was a year ago. Then Colter went soft. Wanted to 'take stock in what we achieved'." "So what is it you want?" "Caps. Action. Something!" He lifts his arms gesturing around. "Anything that's more than the sitting around we been doing for the last year." "Okay. I'm listening." A sickening grin crosses his face. "Sure, this place beats living in the shit holes we had out there. But it ain't the palace of caps we signed on for. Ain't none of us happy - not even the Disciples. And they're normally a chipper bunch so long as they're drenched in blood. Things were going to hell fast, but Gage put the brakes on that. Got us together and promised he'd find someone to deal with Colter." "So, what's the real story behind Gage and Colter?" "Hey, I only know what I've heard. Story is that Gage talked Colter into becoming Overboss. And he got you in here, didn't he? Maybe he likes people owing him. Maybe it let's him get things done without getting dirt on his hands. After Colter went soft, Gage got us behind closed doors, and promised us he'd get someone to off Colter. And you did just that." He looks me up and down again, like he couldn't believe a small thing like me could do it still. I couldn't blame him. "Might a been the whole point of the Gauntlet all along." "You can trust me. I'll be a good leader." His brows furrow together with some doubt. "No offense, but you just got here. We'll see what you can do. Look. Let's cut to the chase. You going to do right by the Pack? I hear you've been talking to the other gangs." "I intend to treat all the gangs equally." Why'd I say that? "Ain't no two things in this world that's truly equal, boss. Everything has it's place. One gang is gonna end up on top, and one on the bottom. It's simple law of nature." "Too true, Mason." "One last thing before I let you go. There's always work to do around here keeping the zoo in order. If you're ever able to lend a hand. Drop by. Loyalty's a two way street." I nod firmly. "I'll be around." He gives me another sweet smile, dropping back into his chair-

"Then I meet some crazy bitch looking for Cappy stuff. She gave me these tacky glasses which I personally love and.." she puts on the dumb Cappy glasses, looking drimaticlly over at him. "Can fucking rock." He gives a lop sided grin. " You were sure nosin' around me a lot." He states, then adds. "It also seems like they did most of the talking." "Well first of all, of course I'm going to ask about you, need to know the in and outs if I'm having you watch my back, right?" He shrugs. "And I'm not much of a talker in the first place, if I open my mouth it's something important, responding, or a sarcastic comment. Talking isn't my forte, I save it for when I need it... or when I feel like bugging someone." They stop in front of Dry Rock Gulch, a smile playing at her face looking at the western theme, taking a side glance at Gage. "Has anyone ever told you that you sound like a cowboy before?" He looks at her with confusion. "Cowboy?" He questions. "Yeah, you know, with the hats, and the spurs on the boots to make the clacking sound, highnoon, quick draws, Yehaws." He looks at her, confusion deepening. "Yehaw?" A smile grows over her face, slapping her hand over her mouth to shuffle a snorting laugh, she takes a second to calm herself. "Say it again." "No." He says dryly, obviously not liking her reaction. "Oh come on. Say it. I'll pay you." "No." He repeats making her pout. "Party pooper." She whines, cocking her gun. A big sign in front written in red 'Danger! Bloodwarms!' "Bloodwarms?" She looks over to him, and he gives a disgusted look. "Nasty critters. Come at you from a cloud of dust. Ugly as all hell." Seemed typical enough. "Wonderful. Let's get going." Not even two steps into the park and two weird giant worm like creatures pop from the ground, the front of them opening into a giant mouth with needle like teeth, before she can even move, their dead, multiple bullets sent through them. "Well that was fun, eh?" Gage calls, walking past her. His gun raises again, her eye setting on what he sow, a protectron in a cowboy hat. She grabs his gun before he can shoot, pushing it down wards in a way of telling him to stand down. "It's in a hat, I'm sure it harmless." She says walking up to it. "Hello?" "Howdy, partners!" A stupid grin plasters her face, and squeals like a little girl, bouncing up and down on the ball of her feet. "Welcome to Dry Rock Gulch, where it's always high noon." It says as a robotic, western, cowboy voice comes through. "Hope y'all are having a good day here at Nuka World. Ready to saddle up and ride into the old wild west?" She puts on a cheesy western accent. "Well, howdy there sheriff! Looks like you got some pesky varmints here in the Gulch that need straightening out." Gage starts laughing, she's unsure if it's with or at her. She doesn't really care which one it is. "I don't know about varmints, but we got us some no-good outlaws holed up in Mad Mulligans Mine. We could sure use a hand around here. What do you Say? Want to be my deputy?" "Yes!" She clears her throat. "I mean, I guess I could bring a little law and order to these parts, sheriff. You got yourself a deputy." She says with the accent again. "The door to Mad Mulligans Mine is locked up. I got a spare key in the safe by the theater, but wouldn't you know, I plum forgot what the combination to the safe was! You'll need to talk to my three amigos: Doc Phosphate, One-Eyed Ike, and the Giddyup Kid. Prove to them you're tough enough to on the outlaws, and they'll give you their part of the combination. Good luck, little doggie! And don't forget your complimentary deputy uniform, courtesy of Nuka-Cola!" The bot hands over a western outfit and a cowboy hat, she giggles like a child taking the outfit. Then running into the closest building. "I'll be right back." She comes back out a minute later all dressed up, tipping her hat towards Gage with a smug smile. "Howdy there partner. How you like my new digs?" Gage raises a brow to her as she loops her thumbs in the belt holes, walking over to him, her bag hanging loosely on her arm. "The being the best deputy in the world I found my right hand man, this!" She reaches into her bag and pulls out a black cow boy hat, shoving it into his hands. "And you have to put it on, because it goes with the theme." His eyes roll but he still places the hat on his head. "Perfect! Now to the safe!"


End file.
